A gas turbine engine may be used to power various types of vehicles and systems. A particular type of gas turbine engine that may be used to power aircraft is a turbofan gas turbine engine. A turbofan gas turbine engine may include, for example, five major sections: a fan section, a compressor section, a combustor section, a turbine section, and an exhaust section. The fan section is positioned at the front or inlet section of the engine and includes a fan that induces air from the surrounding environment into the engine and accelerates a fraction of this air toward the compressor section. The remaining fraction of air induced into the fan section is accelerated into and through a bypass plenum and out the exhaust section.
The compressor section includes one or more axial flow compressors that raise the pressure of the air received from the fan section to a relatively high level. The compressed air from the compressor section then enters the combustor section, where one or more fuel nozzles injects fuel into the compressed air. The fuel-air mixture is ignited in the combustor section to generate combustion gases. The high-energy combustion gases from the combustor section then flow into and through the turbine section to generate energy. The air exiting the turbine section is exhausted from the engine via the exhaust section.
The fan, compressor, and turbine sections include rotor components, typically formed by airfoils extending from a disk, which in turn is mounted on a central engine shaft. As noted above, the turbine rotor components are driven by the high energy combustion gases to drive the engine shaft, and the rotating engine shaft drives the fan and compressor rotor components to draw or compressor air. The airfoils of these components are aerodynamically configured in profile for efficiently performing the designated function.
Engine designers deal with a number of issues, some of which compete with one another. For example, typically, engine designers attempt to reduce the weight of various components, including the airfoils, to provide improved fuel efficiency. Similarly, the geometric characteristics of the airfoil may be designed to maximize aerodynamic efficiency. However, some of these functions or purposes may adversely impact other relevant parameters. As an example, airfoils rotate, they tend to vibrate, and reduced weight airfoils may be more prone to lower frequency vibrations that, in turn, may result in undesirable flutter behavior. Such flutter may adversely impact the efficiency and useful life of the airfoil.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide engine airfoils that result in improved reliability, robustness, and/or efficiency. Furthermore, other desirable features and characteristics of the present invention will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description of the invention and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and this background of the invention.